U.S. PIRG ‏@uspirg  4m4 minutes ago

WiFi enabled bus shelter? Check. Contact-less payment? Check. Zero Emission Buses? Check. Bring it all together now: http://bit.ly/1MnOiEp

Indy says hello to rapid transit

 

By VICTORIA T. DAVIS

@Victoria08Davis | 0 comments

 

Within the next two years, Indianapolis will have the first fully-electric bus rapid transit system in the U.S. according to IndyGo. What will be known as the Red Line will be constructed in three separate phases, spanning 13 miles, with the first phase set for completion in 2018.

 

The first phase will begin at 66th street and College Avenue in Broad Ripple, travel through the new Downtown Transit Center, set to open this fall, and on to the University of Indianapolis (Ulndy). Phase two will pick up in Broad Ripple and travel through Carmel and Westfield. Phase three will extend the system from Ulndy to Greenwood.

 

http://www.indianapolisrecorder.com/article_fb5fb69a-32d7-563e-95c4-a0d3266728a1.html

 

I think Indy is ready for light rail. The strong and growing downtown is seeing lots of urban infill on empty lots, and a starter line would be successful along a main spine of the city. I also sense recent political shifts that are leaning more progressive. It could be the next Detroit or Cincinnati in regards to light rail.

 

BRT does not lead to the same types of long-term investment potential as fixed rail. I think in most cases, rail is always the better way to go to promote urban infill.

Mass Transit ‏@MassTransitmag  2m2 minutes ago

We're in Love. Temporary Bus Shelter Offers Comforts of Home

http://www.MassTransitmag.com/12132084

 

Hey folks - Looking for some information for work. Can anyone name some transit operations where they are not a stand-alone agency (a la TANK, SORTA/METRO, RTA, etc), but rather part of the municipal transportation department (think MUNI in San Francisco that is part of the SF Metro Transporation Department).

^ Detroit is one that I can think of off the top of my head

So I've got Detroit and San Francisco. Any others people can think of?

Are you looking only for full comprehensive transit systems, or just any kind of transit operations? For example, DDOT in DC runs the DC Circulator and the soon to open streetcar (maybe sometime this decade?). And Baltimore City runs the Charm City Circulator

Many of the small transit services in Ohio are a department or office within the county government.

I'm specifically looks for city or county owned & run transit agencies serving cities/counties within an MPO. Here are the Hampton Roads MPO, we have 2 current transit agencies as members of the MPO board (HRT and WATA), along with the 9 cities and 4 counties within our boundaries. One of those cities has removed itself from the HRT system and has started their own transit system (Suffolk Transit) which is going to be owned and operated by the city. The question has come up as to whether they will get an 'agency seat' on the board (like HRT and WATA) while also maintaining their seat as a city. I wanted to look at other examples where this exists to see how their MPO board handles it. Hope this makes sense and clears it up.

 

**As an aside, my first reaction is that they don't get an extra seat. The Suffolk City rep on the board is there to represent all the transportation planning needs for Suffolk, including transit, roads, bridges, air, freight, etc. ...but I don't make the decision. Haha.

RTA Chicago?

 

http://www.rtachicago.com/about-us

 

The Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) is the unit of local government charged with regional financial and budgetary oversight, funding and transit planning for the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), Metra and Pace bus and Pace Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Paratransit Service (also known as the Service Boards).

RTA Chicago?

 

http://www.rtachicago.com/about-us

 

The Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) is the unit of local government charged with regional financial and budgetary oversight, funding and transit planning for the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), Metra and Pace bus and Pace Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Paratransit Service (also known as the Service Boards).

 

No.. I read that as them being an independent agency, like SORTA in Cincy being in charge of METRO and Access.

I'm surprised DC is investing in a streetcar when the existing heavy rail system is so great. Is this mostly along the same route as Washington Metro or does it serve areas the metro rail doesn't hit?

 

When the existing heavy rail system is so great!?!  LMAO! WMATA is without question the worst run large system in the country. The only agency with a worse record is TAPS in north Texas.

 

Really?  How so?  Yes the Metro has had a few horrific, fatal train accidents in recent years, but for the 2nd busiest rapid transit system in America unfortunately stuff happens.  But I've always found Metro to be clean, fast, efficient and safe, at least in terms of their stations and trains from a crime aspect.  And of course, it's extremely comprehensive even though it doesn't (yet) serve Georgetown (and there are historical reasons for that which were beyond WMATA's control).  So I'm rather surprised by your comments.

 

That said, I'm interested in riding the new DC streetcar system. It'll reach the previously under-served gentrifying areas of NE D.C.

 

Quoted from the light rail/streetcar thread, but this conversation probably fits better in here. This is a great read from the Washingtonian about how WMATA got to where it is today:

 

 

The Infuriating History of How Metro Got So Bad

 

By Luke Mullins, Michael Gaynor | December 9, 2015

 

On January 8, Richard Sarles walked into his final board meeting as Metro’s general manager. It was a triumphant afternoon. During the hourlong sendoff, ten different board members extolled Sarles. One person played a video tribute to baseball star Derek Jeter and compared him to the retiring director. “You were both at your best,” the staffer said, “when times were tough and you were surrounded by those who doubted that the job could be done.”

 

http://www.washingtonian.com/blogs/capitalcomment/transportation/why-does-metro-suck-dangerous-accidents-escalator-outages.php

New MnDOT plan would slash cost of Mpls.-Duluth high-speed rail

 

http://www.mprnews.org/story/2015/12/16/project-costs-drop-minneapolis-duluth-high-speed-rail

 

unusualfire[/member] How about this thread instead?

http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,6079.0.html

Urbanophobia: A Growing Threat to Public Transit in America

 

In the ideological war over urban planning, anti-transit conservatives are gaining funding and allies.

 

http://www.governing.com/columns/assessments/gov-agenda-21-koch-transit.html

Urbanophobia: A Growing Threat to Public Transit in America

 

In the ideological war over urban planning, anti-transit conservatives are gaining funding and allies.

 

http://www.governing.com/columns/assessments/gov-agenda-21-koch-transit.html

 

Good read, but it bothered me that the author kept referring to the Nashville AMP as a "streetcar."

Indy says hello to rapid transit

 

By VICTORIA T. DAVIS

@Victoria08Davis | 0 comments

 

Within the next two years, Indianapolis will have the first fully-electric bus rapid transit system in the U.S. according to IndyGo. What will be known as the Red Line will be constructed in three separate phases, spanning 13 miles, with the first phase set for completion in 2018.

 

The first phase will begin at 66th street and College Avenue in Broad Ripple, travel through the new Downtown Transit Center, set to open this fall, and on to the University of Indianapolis (Ulndy). Phase two will pick up in Broad Ripple and travel through Carmel and Westfield. Phase three will extend the system from Ulndy to Greenwood.

 

http://www.indianapolisrecorder.com/article_fb5fb69a-32d7-563e-95c4-a0d3266728a1.html

 

I think Indy is ready for light rail. The strong and growing downtown is seeing lots of urban infill on empty lots, and a starter line would be successful along a main spine of the city. I also sense recent political shifts that are leaning more progressive. It could be the next Detroit or Cincinnati in regards to light rail.

 

BRT does not lead to the same types of long-term investment potential as fixed rail. I think in most cases, rail is always the better way to go to promote urban infill.

 

I agree, C-Dawg, but unfortunately right-wingers have converted LRT talk to a total system of BRT.  While there can be a place for BRT on 1 or 2 lines in a city to supplement it's rail system, it's pretty obvious BRT has become a tool for many conservatives to "save money" while delivering a system with far less positive impact.  Indianapolis is an example of how NOT to build an effective transit network.  The below 2014 link reflects the article KJP posted about the right-wing phobia re mass transit.

 

http://www.urbanindy.com/2014/01/29/next-train-going-nowhere/

From Indianapolis:

 

 

Opposition to Red Line Bus Rapid Transit route accelerates

 

John Tuohy, [email protected] 9:39 a.m. EST January 18, 2016

 

No cement has been mixed or dirt turned over, no construction money secured or engineers hired, but pockets of resistance are bubbling in the first section of the city’s proposed Bus Rapid Transit system.

 

Northside residents who live near College Avenue have attended meetings and circulated an online petition to voice concern about the Red Line electric buses that would run as often as every 10 minutes from 66th Street in Broad Ripple to the University of Indianapolis on the Southside.

 

http://www.indystar.com/story/news/2016/01/17/opposition-red-line-bus-rapid-transit-route-accelerates/78307660/

WMATA is shutting down the Metro and bus service in DC for the weekend due to the impending snow storm

 

http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/Metro-Close-Weather-Snow-Blizzard-Plans-Bus-Train-366104811.html

How does that make any sense? Isn't a major snowstorm exactly when you would want people to take transit and not drive?

How does that make any sense? Isn't a major snowstorm exactly when you would would people to take transit and not drive?

 

WMATA says they are unable to operate Metro when snow exceeds eight inches (IIRC) because it covers the third rail. During the blizzards in 2010, they closed just the above ground sections of the Metro but still ran service underground. I was perplexed as to why they're closing the whole system this time. I saw on Twitter there are concerns about power failure. With all of WMATA's safety incidents over the last few years, I guess they're just trying to play it safe?

What Went Wrong With Boston’s Green Line Extension?

by Angie Schmitt

 

Last week, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority abruptly cut ties with four contractors working on the 4.7-mile Green Line extension to Somerville and Medford, outside Boston. The announcement came shortly after reports that the cost of the light rail project had ballooned to about $3 billion, an increase of a billion dollars.

 

http://usa.streetsblog.org/2015/12/14/what-went-wrong-with-bostons-green-line-extension/

 

 

Canceling the Green Line extension would be expensive, too

 

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/2015/12/30/canceling-the-green-line-extension-would-expensive-too/Va1RsCMIM5p2vGPpTnjW0O/story.html

How does that make any sense? Isn't a major snowstorm exactly when you would would people to take transit and not drive?

 

WMATA says they are unable to operate Metro when snow exceeds eight inches (IIRC) because it covers the third rail. During the blizzards in 2010, they closed just the above ground sections of the Metro but still ran service underground. I was perplexed as to why they're closing the whole system this time. I saw on Twitter there are concerns about power failure. With all of WMATA's safety incidents over the last few years, I guess they're just trying to play it safe?

 

"Storm plans and procedures need to be drastically revised. WMATA, for example, has a standard operating procedure that suggests operations be suspended when snowfall reaches eight inches. Rail transit managers in Chicago and Philadelphia would find that policy ridiculous."

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/metro-didnt-have-to-shut-down/2016/01/29/60b24592-c441-11e5-a4aa-f25866ba0dc6_story.html

^... or Cleveland, where more than 90% of the rail system on/below/above the surface exposed to the elements.  And IIRC, Cleveland has a higher average snowfall total than any of these cities, including Chicago.  I think only Buffalo beats us.

^... or Cleveland, where more than 90% of the rail system on/below/above the surface exposed to the elements.  And IIRC, Cleveland has a higher average snowfall total than any of these cities, including Chicago.  I think only Buffalo beats us.

 

The difference in Cleveland though is that we don't have a third rail power source for our heavy rail, but instead an overhead catenary...which also causes its own set of problems in brutal winter weather

^True, although I thought the D.C. Metro had electric ice-melters built into their rail system.  I know they have 3rd-rail shields throughout the system... Btw, Philadelphia got blasted with 21-inches last week, but ran it's 2 HRT rapid transit lines 24/7 throughout the storm with no problems.  This includes the Market-Frankford el which is entirely above ground outside Center City.

What Went Wrong With Bostons Green Line Extension?

by Angie Schmitt

 

Last week, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority abruptly cut ties with four contractors working on the 4.7-mile Green Line extension to Somerville and Medford, outside Boston. The announcement came shortly after reports that the cost of the light rail project had ballooned to about $3 billion, an increase of a billion dollars.

 

http://usa.streetsblog.org/2015/12/14/what-went-wrong-with-bostons-green-line-extension/

 

 

Canceling the Green Line extension would be expensive, too

 

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/2015/12/30/canceling-the-green-line-extension-would-expensive-too/Va1RsCMIM5p2vGPpTnjW0O/story.html

 

This business with the green line extension is insane...the extension is so short and 100% of it is parallel to existing commuter tracks so how it's so expensive to begin with is a mystery.  I believe that there are commuter rail improvements piggy-backed onto this project (a flying crossover, for example), but still, the expense of such a short project (5 miles) is baffling. 

 

Also, look at the slideshow feature on this article:

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/2015/12/30/canceling-the-green-line-extension-would-expensive-too/Va1RsCMIM5p2vGPpTnjW0O/story.html

 

Incredible to see that Harvard Square station (no rail transfers) is significantly busier than Park St. (center of DT Boston + transfer to the green line).

 

 

 

 

 

All Metrorail service will be suspended Wednesday, March 16, for emergency inspections

 

Metro General Manager/CEO Paul J. Wiedefeld, with support from the Authority's Board of Directors, today announced the full closure of the Metrorail system on Wednesday, March 16, for emergency inspections of the system's third-rail power cables following an early morning tunnel fire yesterday.

 

http://www.wmata.com/about_metro/news/PressReleaseDetail.cfm?ReleaseID=6082

 

This is major, huge news out of DC. Wiedefeld has been very upfront with safety issues. This is a huge deal. It truly feels like the GM is creating a safety culture from scratch.

 

That said, I feel that this is happening Wednesday rather than the weekend not because it is a high safety priority, but instead, weekend closures would severely inconvenience tourists. The Cherry Blossoms are in full bloom this weekend, and the festival has just begun. It's one thing to anger residents. We are a captive audience. It's another thing to inconvenience tourists. Bad tourist experiences are bad for the tourism industry. 9X Uber Surge pricing would likely not be nicely received well by tourists, nor would buses.

Not necessarily non-Ohio, but not specific to Ohio:

 

Matt Yglesias and others in the on line urban/transit community have really been hammering the issue of US transportation construction costs, which, apparently, are much higher than in other first world countries. The "Buy American" requirements have been cited in some reporting as one problem, but I'm guessing that barely scratches the surface.

 

Here's Yglesias' latest on the topic:

 

http://www.vox.com/2014/6/2/5771880/us-mass-transit-construction-costs-are-insanely-high

Some of our board members are transportation/engineering consultants who freely admit their employers are part of the problem, too. Their employers (the "consulting mafia") lobby Congress for environmental regulations that require long lead times for alternatives analyses, environmental clearance studies, etc. that mean a given project that's in search of federal funds will take an average of 10 years to go from funding approval for planning to ribbon cutting. Larger projects like the Euclid Corridor began its planning process in 1985. The BRT began service in 2008. A given project that's federally funded can have 5-20 percent of its construction costs be tied up in payments to consultants -- assuming the project is even built. Thus in those cases where no dirt is turned, 100 percent of the project cost goes to consultants! The Red Line extension to Euclid or the Blue Line extension to Highland Hills are both in that category.

 

Another problem is that the US rail/transit supplier market isn't active enough over a long and consistent enough time frame. Transit agencies in the USA tend to buy trains and buses components and building supplies in large spurts. Consider GCRTA. It's been 31 years since they last took possession of a new railcar. In Europe, they buy railcars in small bunches, like 5, 10 or 20 at a time rather than 50, 100 or 200. In the USA, that means the plant has to be retooled for that production line and partnerships established with suppliers who also have to gear up a production line. While there are some common railcar features, they are some that have to be custom made to fit the dimensions (curves, clearances, station platform heights, etc) of that rail system which, like Cleveland's, may have been built many decades ago. In some cases, a major rail supplier who may have a couple of new, large orders at the time may not have a production line capable of handling it. So they have to build a new plant like Nippon Sharyo (which builds Japan's bullet trains) did in Rochelle, Illinois to handle several orders for new Amtrak railcars that were funded by the federal stimulus. That may be a short-lived plant investment if Nippon Sharyo can't get any more business after that production line ends. Producing in bursts also results in product recalls or other quality control issues like the kind which has temporarily idled that Nippon Sharyo production line!

 

In Europe, a large plant may have multiple production lines going for 20 years with new railcars, locomotives, trams, buses and other transit equipment coming out at a steady pace during that period. And because employees and engineers are constantly focusing on that production line, they can research improvements and innovations that increase efficiency in that production line, or in the operation of the transit vehicle.

^I can believe that Nippon Sharyo had capacity constraints in its primary facilities, but the reason it built its New Rochelle plant is the Buy American requirement. U.S. law requires final assembly of all federally financed rail vehicles to happen in the U.S. I'm extremely skeptical it was a pure business decision to build that plant where they did, and that stuff just adds to costs, and likely adds to the quality issues.

I totally agree that Buy American provisions are a cost problem when you don't have a consistent, stable domestic supply market. When was the last time the USA built intercity passenger rail cars? The Acela trains or the California Cars 15-17 years ago? Nippon Sharyo won the bid even though it didn't have a US production facility to handle the job. If we built railcars (or any transit vehicles) in smaller, steadier orders there would be at least one US production line to use and they Buy American laws would be superfluous.

 

BTW Nippon Sharyo said it would build a plant in a state that ordered rail cars. Illinois is not a bad choice since it is one of the nation's top five  industry supplier states in terms of employment and business activity.

Cool map....

 

How has Chicago CTA ridership changed 1998>2015? Growth downtown/North Side. Evanston/Skokie/South Side decline https://t.co/dKwpC2l9gO

^Was just looking at that. It's awesome. Wish we had ridership data like that at RTA (not to mention the ridership!).

 

I'm glad they're talking about this. It needs to happen

 

 

Metro could shut down entire rail lines to do extended maintenance, board chair says

By Robert McCartney March 30 at 2:38 PM

 

Metro is in such need of repair that the transit system could shut down an entire rail line for as long as six month to do needed maintenance, Metro board Chairman Jack Evans said Wednesday.

 

At a minimum, Evans said, Metro will have to shut segments of lines for extended periods because there isn’t enough time to do the necessary work using only nights and weekends.

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/trafficandcommuting/2016/03/30/fba8ae0a-f688-11e5-9804-537defcc3cf6_story.html

Not necessarily non-Ohio, but not specific to Ohio:

 

Matt Yglesias and others in the on line urban/transit community have really been hammering the issue of US transportation construction costs, which, apparently, are much higher than in other first world countries. The "Buy American" requirements have been cited in some reporting as one problem, but I'm guessing that barely scratches the surface.

 

Here's Yglesias' latest on the topic:

 

http://www.vox.com/2014/6/2/5771880/us-mass-transit-construction-costs-are-insanely-high

 

I wonder if ADA has something to do with it, as well. In Toronto the streetcars just stop in the middle of the street and crossing-guards come out (like a school bus), and riders literally have to hop on and hop off. I have been scratching my head about this for a long time. We have to do these things. To not do these projects is irresponsible, so I'm not sure if Yglesias is doing good reporting or not. I am skeptical given his history...

Cta: Pretty sure the declines in Evanston are due to the really sad shape the purple line express is in - it has the longest slow zones in the system making it barely an express

the los angeles gold line foothills extension opens this weekend or anytime now and the denver airport extension opens april 22.

The foothills extension has been open for a month:

 

https://www.metro.net/projects/foothill-extension/

 

 

It was kind of weird how the gold line foothills extension got the announcement first when the far more important Expo line extension took a while to finally say when they were opening - it opens next month.  I can't wait to ride it the next time I'm in SoCal.

The foothills extension will be of little use.  It's a single raindrop in a lake.  It's not going to transform any of the areas it's traveling through due to the nature of the line being built in an interstate median and on an abandoned freight corridor.  It's too far from DTLA and too medium-speed to really compel a lot of people to get off the highway. 

Agreed completely. I think it was passed mainly for political purposes so the 2/3rds majority required to pass a tax on California referendums could be met... the only good aspect of it will be connecting to Ontario airport which it won't do for many years...

 

The expo live on the other hand is one of the most important transit projects in the country

 

The way the light rail lines are being funded is ridiculously complicated.  There are three different .5 cent taxes which each fund different things.  One can fund tunnels, another can't, for example.  One has a fraction that can fund highway capacity improvements that also involve rail.  I imagine that the foothills project is being built because it is able to use the funds from that particular tax whereas a line paralleling the I-10 on a city street could not.  It's a totally stupid situation. 

 

 

 

Even more stupid is that LA had a subway ban for almost 20 years...

Even more stupid is that LA had a subway ban for almost 20 years...

 

And that the ban caused the light rail lines to random locations to be built before the Wilshire subway.  And that the same local congressman who overturned the ban was the one who proposed and fought for it back in the 80s.  The situation is totally insane. 

Wow, the MTA is pulling out of APTA, due to several sources of dissatisfaction: APTA's governance, the fees MTA pays, and APTA's performance. Will in interesting to see what this does to APTA.

 

Letter from the MTA explaining the decision: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-s2b-K9y41NdkhiZEJKdXpMRFU/view?pref=2&pli=1

Good coverage: http://transitcenter.org/2016/04/14/mta-pulls-the-plug-on-apta/

Wow. That is big. That would be like the USA withdrawing from NATO.

WMATA / DC Metro is now "paperless" in terms of farecards. Paper farecards are no longer dispensed or accepted at any stations or vehicles. To use the system, all users use SmartTrip tap-and-pay.

http://www.wmata.com/fares/paperless.cfm

 

Key Dates

December 31, 2015, paper farecard sales ended.

March 6, 2016, paper farecards no longer accepted at the Metrorail faregates.

June 30, 2016, last day for paper farecards and Metrochek trade-ins to transfer the value to a SmarTrip® card.

If you still have a paper farecard or a Metrochek after June 30, 2016, congratulations, you have a Metro souvenir. (Don't let this happen to you. Trade-in your paper farecards and Metrocheks today at any Brown Cash-Only Ticket Vending Machine.)

 

This appears to affect both metro rail and metro bus. Plastic SmartTrip only.

bring back the 70's!

 

Surge in Ridership Pushes New York Subway to Limit  :-P

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/04/nyregion/surge-in-ridership-pushes-new-york-subway-to-limit.html

Sound Transit light rail phase 3 will cost $50 billion, raise taxes for average household about $400, meaning the average Seattle-area household will pay approximately $800/yr toward public transportation:

http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/transportation/sound-transit-proposal-includes-2nd-downtown-seattle-tunnel/

 

Will create a second trunk line with its own subway tunnel under DT Seattle, with a very expensive junction station beneath the existing Westlake subway station. 

http://seattle.curbed.com/2016/3/24/11301982/sound-transit-3-plan-calls-for-second-downtown-seattle-tunnel-108

The APTA That Transit Needs

 

May 23, 2016 by TransitCenter

 

APTA President and CEO Michael Melaniphy resigned late last month following news that New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority—which carries 35 percent of the country’s transit riders—was withdrawing from the industry association.

 

In the letter announcing the agency’s decision first made public on The Connection, MTA President Tom Prendergast implied that transit agencies in other large cities shared these sentiments. Prendergast described the agency’s “collective dissatisfaction with various aspects of APTA,” including the organization’s governance structure, its excessive membership dues, and Melaniphy’s annual compensation of nearly $900,000.

 

http://transitcenter.org/2016/05/23/apta-transit-needs/